Charges against P Broomes, bodyguard dismissed

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Charges against Broomes, bodyguard dismissed

Former Youth Affairs Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency, Simona Broomes and her bodyguard, Dexter Austin appeared on Thursday before Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where several charges against them were dismissed.

Magistrate Bess dismissed the charges against the duo, since the Police Prosecutor was unable to present the file in court. The Magistrate added that the case had been ongoing for the past eight months and there had been no progress.

Austin and Broomes appeared in court in the latter part of August 2020, when they denied the charges of unlawful restraint, threatening language, and causing public terror along with assault, and were both released on self- bail.

Austin was separately charged for discharging a firearm within 100 yards of a public space.

On August 3, 2020, the former Minister and her bodyguard Austin went after two men who had removed a “no fishing” sign from the parapet opposite her Lot 103 Lockoo Street, Lodge Housing Scheme, Georgetown home.

This, however, led to an altercation and an exchange of words before the men entered their vehicle and left the scene.

According to Broomes, there was a high-speed chase, but based on a video that was posted by the former Minister herself, that was not the case.

As they followed the white motor car, Broomes was heard urging persons on the roadway to intercept the vehicle.

However, the vehicle was finally intercepted in Sophia, where Broomes and some armed associates confronted the two men and assaulted them.

It was here Austin allegedly discharged his loaded firearm.

Dexter Austin with his firearm Simona Broomes

Spare a prayer...

…for the Police

Just the other day, your Eyewitness bemoaned the sad, continuing decline of the Guyana Police Force. As he said then, of course he accepts that not all the apples in that particular barrel are rotten, but there are enough of them around to overwhelm whatever good ones may exist. One bad apple and all that! Anyhow, one of the better apples - who just happens to be the Chaplain of the GPF - had to deliver a prayer (they didn’t say whether there were also Hindu and Muslim prayers) at the opening Ceremony of the GPF Annual Officers’ Conference.

The fella took his task seriously, and fervently prayed for a full five minutes on what ailed the Force. He called for divine intervention to fix the same. One news outlet offered a sample of his homily: “……This day we lift the Guyana Police Force before you. And Father, today, if we are honest, we are elated to say that this Force is haemorrhaging right now. We stand in the gap and we confess the sins of this noble organisation. We confess every spirit of racism in this organization. We confess the spirit of corruption and bribery, we confess the spirit of injustice, and we declare, oh God, even now, above all, we confess the disunity and we pray, oh God, right now, that this Force is so fragmented that unless you help this Force, this Force will continue to be in trouble.”

Well, well, well! Mout’ open and ‘tory jump out! Now, notice that, like your humble Eyewitness, the good Chaplain didn’t say that the “sins”, “racism”, “corruption”, “bribery”, “injustice”, and “disunity” he identified included the ENTIRE GPF, but that, in his estimation, they were prevalent enough to “trouble” the very survival of the “noble organisation”.

But who told him to be so candid? Within days - just like that - he was yanked from his post as Chaplain and replaced! Presumably, his replacement wouldn’t hang the Force’s dirty linen in public for us, the ordinary citizens, to see!

That reaction created quite a stir, however, and - lo and behold! - the good Chaplain was de-yanked before you could say “Holy Cow!!”

So, what does all of this mean? Well, for one thing, that life still goes on after Megan (one name) told Oprah that some old sod in the British Royals inquired as to the possible shade of the son that Megan was then expecting. Megan, of course, was completely bowled over that ANYONE could possibly bring that up!

Well, we can tell that our Police Top Brass also didn’t expect their Chaplain to spill his guts about the dark underbelly of the GPF (pun intended!) But will ANYTHING change? Don’t hold your breath. For neither Megan nor us and the Police!

…for prayers

Guyana is a multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-racial state, OK? Well, last night, one of those religions - Hinduism - celebrated one of their biggest festivals - Shivratri. They would’ve fasted all day and spent all night worshipping Lord Shiva, who is that aspect of the Divinity into which all will revert when the universe collapses upon itself eventually. Not to worry, all will reverse itself in a few billion years, and we would then be projected as a new creation. Very comforting, eh?

We’re also in the midst of Lent, in which Christians are fasting for forty days before Easter - which commemorates Jesus’s ascension into Heaven after His Crucifixion. The 40 days and nights of fasting and prayers in the wilderness invoke Jesus’s preparation for His mission. In a month or so, Muslims will be starting to fast for Ramadan, and engage in intense prayers.

With all those prayers, you’d think we would’ve covered all our bases, wouldn’t you?

…for the Royals

You’d be relieved to know that, in answer to accusations by Harry that some Royal person inquired about the colour of his then unborn son, his brother William assured us they’re “not a racist family”.

Whew!

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Zinc-fortified rice will have great demand on local, regional markets – Minister

The Burma Rice Research Station has been developing a new variety of rice which has been biofortified with zinc to curtail nutrient deficiency. Samples were harvested for trials on Wednesday, and once successful, the product is expected to drive significant demand in the country and Caribbean.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha visited the Region Five (MahaicaBerbice) facility where the project materialised through partnership between the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB).

According to him, this is a positive step in developing the traditional sectors in a way that would impact the population. With the rice being fortified with zinc, persons would achieve their required intake without spending additional money on supplements. As a result, it would tackle the non-communicable diseases in the region without any additional costs.

“It will not entail any additional costs. So, what we have been doing is producing value added [products], nutritious products but at the same cost. That’s the way to go.”

He added, “This has both economic benefit and health benefit…It has zinc in it. We are growing the zinc now in the fields rather than to put it artificially into the produce. So, this will help a lot of people because, right now, with the pandemic, we are being advised by the health specialists to use zinc. If they could get it right in the produce, that would be good.”

There was optimism that the tested product would be ready for the market within the next year, aiding

The varieties being harvested this week at the Burma Station

Guyana to reclaim its title as the bread basket of the Caribbean and maintain food security.

“It will also spark interest among local farmers. I’m very optimistic that a year from now, after the next trial, we would have a candidate variety that can spread across the country, and farmers will be interested in cultivating these kinds of crops, because I’ve been getting good review on those varieties that we launched right here.

“This shows that we’re putting the funds in the right direction, and our country will not only be self-sufficient, but our country will be able to export and satisfy that demand in the Caribbean,” he expressed.

According to GRDB Chief Scientist Dr Mahendra Persaud, it is a commendable task for such a small country. Moreover, zinc deficiency currently affects a significant percentage of the global population.

“Zinc is a problem for over a third of the population on the earth, and mostly women and children are suffering. We’ve come a far way in developing these lines that we’re sure one or two will translate into a variety for the betterment of our own people in Guyana, Latin American, and even further afield, because we trade 70 to 80 per cent of what we produce. That’s a win-win for everyone,” Persaud identified.

Last month, Dr Persaud had explained that the strains are part of a breeding trial, and will be tested over the next three seasons.

“We’ve been testing some breeding lines and established varieties for higher levels of zinc. We have 17 promising entries at four trial locations. These trials will go on for at least three more seasons before we make a final selection on which of the strains will go into the farmers’ fields for a final analysis for release as a variety. It’s quite at the initial stage, but we are very optimistic because we’ve seen these lines perform well at the breeding stage over the past five years,” he was quoted as saying.

“We abide by all Govt rules... FROM PAGE 7

Premature and unfortunate

Guyana’s Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh had said last week that it was premature and unfortunate that the deal between Scotiabank and First Citizens was announced without the regulatory process to consider the request for such a transaction yet to be initiated, much less concluded.

In accordance with Section 12 of the Financial Institutions Act (FIA), Scotiabank needs permission from the Bank of Guyana (BoG) before it proceeds to enter into any agreement to sell its operations here.

Moreover, the BoG, which is the regulatory body for financial institutions in the country, said in a subsequent statement last week that First Citizens Bank has not even submitted an application in keeping with the requirements of the FIA 1995 to acquire control of Scotiabank’s operations in Guyana.

In fact, BoG Governor, Dr Gobind Ganga, told <<<Guyana Times>>> last week that the sale of Scotiabank’s operations in Guyana was subject to the approval of the central bank.

This, Dr Ganga explained, is to allow for the BoG to conduct the necessary mandatory assessments of the transaction – including, in this case, the company seeking to enter Guyana’s banking sector.

“Even if [First Citizens] submit an application in the near future, we have to do our assessments with respect to the requirements and those requirements include our objectives, in terms of what we need from another financial institution entering the Guyana market,” he pointed out.

Dr Ganga made reference to Scotiabank’s previous attempt to sell its operations in Guyana to Republic Financial Holdings Limited in 2019, which was halted after the BoG – having done its assessment – found that if the transaction had gone through with RBL, which is already operating in Guyana, it would have jeopardised the local market.

At the time, Dr Ganga told this publication that the application was denied in light of concerns about “concentration” and “competition”, which would have negative impacts on the country’s financial system.

“So, as you can see, we have to do our assessment from different perspectives... Any applicant we’ll have to judge with respect to the merit of the application from the perspective of our requirements and our objectives going forward,” he noted.

The BoG Governor revealed to this newspaper last Thursday that Scotiabank formally wrote to them that day, applying under Section 12 of the FIA to execute the sale. But according to Dr Ganga, the sale cannot be executed without an assessment of the transaction and the company buying the operations here.

He had noted that that assessment would soon commence.

Meanwhile, Scotiabank had said that until regulatory approval was obtained and the transaction closed, it would continue operations in Guyana “as usual”.

Scotiabank’s Guyana operations currently encompass four branches and approximately 180 employees. The Canada-based bank noted that these employees would all be retained upon the transfer of operations to First Citizens.

Scotiabank has, for some time, been looking to sell its operations in Guyana. (G8)